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Cadillac ELR update delayed over autonomous drive systems issues

Rumors had been circulating that the 2016 Cadillac ELR would bow in Los Angeles recently, featuring, in Cadillac's own words, "engineering enhancements." The rumors and that quote are as far as it got – the updated ELR pulled a no-show in LA, and no one outside of the brand appears to know when it will appear. GM Inside News says its sources at Cadillac pinned the ELR's absence on some autonomous driving features not being ready to reveal. According to GMI, Cadillac insiders say the upgraded ELR will be a "highly autonomous vehicle," and the company needs more time to gets its systems polished. The site says "it's not unreasonable to assume that ELR will be [the] vehicle" that gets Cadillac's Super Cruise technology, but that seems a lot more involved than "engineering enhancements," and in September Cadillac said we'd see it sometime in the next two years. It's possible the wait for the 2016 ELR and its secrets might only be a couple of months: the next-generation Chevrolet Volt, which shares a platform with the ELR and whose engineering updates we know quite a bit about, is scheduled to appear at the 2015 Detroit Auto Show in January.

MIT puts V2V technology on its 2015 Top Ten list

Of all the technologies swimming around the automotive world, it is vehicle-to-vehicle communication that the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has fished out as one of its Ten Breakthrough Technologies of 2015. It joined emerging tech like brain organoids, supercharged photosynthesis, and Project Loon on the list, and got the nod over autonomous driving because, as the MIT Technology Review wrote, V2V communication "is likely to have a far bigger and more immediate effect on road safety." How so? Because actual cars transmitting data like their location, speed, steering angle, and state of braking to one another at least ten times per second provides a greater degree of awareness than sensor readings and algorithms. The US Department of Transportation and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have been working for years on standards and a regulatory schedule for introducing V2V to the marketplace, and Cadillac plans to incorporate V2V into at least one of its vehicles by 2017. Since we've begun the year with a number of stories of cars being hacked into, that got us wondering about the security of V2V communications. In a recent piece by our own Pete Bigelow on what motorists should know about getting their cars hacked into, he wrote that although cyber break-ins are extremely difficult, expensive, and time-consuming to do remotely, V2V is "one more conceivable avenue a hacker could use to impact multiple cars at a given time." So we spoke to Wilmington, Massachusetts-based Security Innovation about it. The automotive consultancy company has been working with the DOT since 2003 on V2V technology and the issues around it - namely security and privacy - and its chief scientist, William Whyte, is the technical editor of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1609.2 standard outlining its security protocols. Those protocols are expected to be finalized by the DOT toward the end of this year and then come into effect in 2016, and the company's Aerolink product is the security solution Cadillac will use. Whyte said, "If you hack into a car, V2V is the hardest place to start," and Pete Samson, the general manager of Security Innovation's automotive team, said "There are ten or 12 alternate attack surfaces" around the car that would make much easier targets.

Cadillac recalls 120k examples of ATS for fire risk

Cadillac is recalling a total of 119,339 units (96,145 in the US alone) of the 2013-2016 ATS sedan, because the coil antenna module that powers the rear defogger can overheat. The problem has been linked to four fires, but there have been no injuries, fatalities, or crashes, according to the automaker. During manufacturing, the antenna might have been produced with "critically weak terminal connectivity." If being cycled on and off often or used continuously, these faulty examples can overheat, leading to a fire in the driver's side rear pillar. According to the company, "less than 1 percent of the recalled vehicles are expected to have the condition." According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (in a PDF), the fix is a reflash for the ATS' Electronic Climate Control module that automatically turns on the rear defogger when the engine starts. In addition, 2013 models keep the system on continuously at low temperatures at highway speeds and this is also being disabled in the update. The changes are meant to cycle the coil less often, but owners can still turn it on manually. Related Video: GM Statement: General Motors is recalling approximately 96,145 2013-16 model year ATS sedans in the U.S. Some of these vehicles may have been manufactured with critically weak terminal connectivity in the coil antenna module, which powers the rear defogger system. If the module has the condition and is subjected to excessive cycling or continuous operation, it may overheat and a fire may develop inside the rear pillar on the driver's side of the vehicle. Less than 1 percent of the recalled vehicles are expected to have the condition. GM is aware of four fires but no injuries, fatalities or crashes. Including Canada, Mexico and exports, the total population of the recall is approximately 119,339. RECALL Subject : Rear Defogger Coil Antenna Module may Overheat Report Receipt Date: SEP 03, 2015 NHTSA Campaign Number: 15V558000 Component(s): VISIBILITY Potential Number of Units Affected: 96,145 All Products Associated with this Recall Vehicle Make Model Model Year(s) CADILLAC ATS 2013-2016 Details Manufacturer: General Motors LLC SUMMARY: General Motors LLC (GM) is recalling certain model year 2013-2016 Cadillac ATS sedan vehicles manufactured April 23, 2012, to September 2, 2015. In the affected vehicles, the coil antenna module that powers the rear defogger system may generate excessive heat due to excessive cycling or continuous operation.